


Chemicals in the Brain

by Agent_Pom_Pom_APO (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Don't Have to Know Canon, Fluff, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Hella Original, Homestuck - Freeform, Humanstuck, I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry I Killed Them, M/M, Maybe Smut We'll See, Minor Gamzee Makara/Tavros Nitram, No One's Done High School AU Before, Not So Healthy Relationship, Probably Not Lol My Sister Found My AO3 Account, RIP, What Have I Done, dave strider/karkat vantas - Freeform, davekar - Freeform, davekat - Freeform, kill me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-18 01:14:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 5,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7293502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Agent_Pom_Pom_APO
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new kid, who happens to have only been homeschooled, Dave, transfers into Karkat's school and Karkat has to deal with him... This story follows Karkat as his life collides head-on with Dave's and they build a relationship. Strong language.</p><p>I know it's so original but I love this AU</p><p>I copied it from my Wattpad account because f̶u̶c̶k̶ ̶W̶a̶t̶t̶p̶a̶d̶</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Well, Screw THIS Kid.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> help

Karkat walked through the school halls, savoring the quiet, peaceful atmosphere that held while classes were in session. Gamzee, his eternally stoned friend, was going to be angry with him for skipping, but Karkat couldn't bring himself to care. The people in his classes were constantly bullying him for his introverted mannerisms and perceived "emo-ness." He just couldn't deal with it today. His music was playing as he relaxed and sat down on the hard, carpeted floor as a pair of polished black leather shoes stalked up to him.

"Mr. Vantas."

Karkat looked up, startled, and saw the principal standing over him, her arms crossed in a displeased manner.

"Oh, hey, Ms. Lalonde. I'm just trying to fucking relax for once, some jerks in my Chemistry class were harassing me again."

Rose's expression softened, her motherly manner had returned. "Karkat, I understand that sometimes it's harder to stay in the classroom than to take the punishment, but I want you to go to your classes. However, since you have skipped class several times, and even calling Kankri didn't fix it, I want to give you a special punishment."

"Oh?"

Rose inhaled deeply and said, "My younger brother is moving here from Dallas and he's only ever been homeschooled. Because I trust you, I want you to guide him around the school, show him where his classes are, and stay with him during classes you have together. This, of course, will mean you will be required to actually go to class."

"Well, what if I don't want to?" Karkat said, his voice challenging.

"Then, I am afraid; we will be forced to suspend you. We've handed out detentions, which you always attend, but they do not seem to be making you more inclined to attend class. I could also throw some extra credit in if you do it, as well."

Karkat sighed. "Fine. When does your kid brother get here?"

"His name is Dave, Karkat, and he arrives here next week. Be sure to wait for him at the front entrance, and you'll know him when you see him." She says gently as she turns away. Karkat watched his old family-friend-turned-principal leave.

He sat back, sighing again. That kid is coming in three days. Great. Another douche to spice up my life.

It was Monday morning, and Karkat couldn't be in any more of a bad mood. He had misjudged the weather and was now standing outside in a thick black sweater in warm 70 degree weather, while his project for Literature sat in the mud two blocks away, where some bullies had left it.

The one day that I have to babysit a homeschooled, thinkpanless cockle, I end up sweaty and my project that took days to finish sits in wet dirt. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Standing up from his slouch, Karkat yawned and stretched as a pair of aviator-styled sunglasses appeared in his vision. The kid wearing them walked up to him and said,

"Hey, you must be Karkat, I'm Dave."

His casual southern drawl screams Texan, but his clothes... Do not. He is wearing black skinny jeans, a baseball t-shirt with red sleeves and a broken record print, and red converse. He wears a smirk on his smug little face, while sipping from a box of apple juice.

Karkat immediately wants to punch this jerk's snarky expression off of his face.


	2. In Which Dave is Cute, and Karkat Undergoes a Realization

Karkat led Dave into the school building, walking briskly as he tried to give Dave his tour as fast as possible.

Dave followed along, making the occasional sardonic comment at someone's clothes, the school's decorations, anything. Karkat tuned him out, not wanting to talk at the moment.

"Let me see your schedule." The scowling boy snapped.

Quickly, Dave fished out the piece of paper detailing where his classes were and handed it to Karkat.

Karkat looked at the schedule for a moment or two, then gave yet another exasperated sigh. "How is it possible that we have the exact same schedule? That's literally impossible in high school. Rose must have pulled a few strings..." He said, looking gradually more irritated as the sentence progressed.

Dave grinned. "Well, maybe she's playing matchmaker. Ya don't see me complaining." He finished with a quirk of his cheek that suggested he was winking, but his glasses obscured his eyes.

Karkat gave Dave a thoroughly unimpressed look, and continued to walk. "Alright, here's your first period class. It's Music Theory, which means we'll be working on learning how to read and write music, among other similar things." Eyeing Dave, he punctuated the last sentence "And no instruments."

Dave proceeded to look mildly disappointed.

Walking into class, a few of Karkat's old friends were in the class, including Sollux and Gamzee. They both waved at the short boy, as the teacher seated Dave... Directly next to Karkat.

Another sigh came from the boy's lungs.

Dave proved to be a protege in almost all of his classes. He surpassed his entire class in Algebra 2, English Lit, World History... The only class he struggled with was Teen Choices. Kind of sad, really. Not that Karkat was paying attention.

A few days later, Strider himself came up to Karkat and his friends during lunch, and was joking with the group.

With a small, fond smile, Karkat realized Dave was starting to fit in. Karkat took his opportunity to jump in to the gaggle of laughing friends, picking an argument with Dave- one of his favorite things to do with this acquaintance.

As the hour moved on, they drifted into simply sharing stories, and Dave had a fit of laughter as his head bumped Karkat's forehead, their noses almost touching.

All Karkat could think was, oh.

 

 

 

Oh no.


	3. The First Chemical

Karkat wasn't very happy about what had happened earlier that day, but decided to find out what exactly it was. When he had gotten up from the table after Dave had been so close, his legs were a bit shaky and he felt as if his head was buzzing.

Swimming with Dave's proximity to him.

But maybe, being a little closer wou-

Karkat shook his head. There is no time for those thoughts! Research has to be done.

As Karkat directed his fingers to swim across the keyboard, he first looked up, "shaky legs around a person" to no avail.

Gog, this is going to take a significant amount of time.

The second thing he looked up was, "buzzing head shaky legs," yet again without anything useful.

Around Karkat's seventh search however, he looked up "shaking when talking to someone -anxiety," and he found very useful results.

"One sometimes shakes around someone they like."

Crap.

Within a few more searches, Karkat determined that he shook around Dave because of a chemical dubbed "Oxytocin," which is often called the "love chemical," and is released in the brain when one is in close proximity to someone they are attracted to or a family member.

The next day, Karkat was very aware of Dave's almost constant presence around him. The subtle smirk of his, the scraping of his voice.

His bright laugh, and-

What do his eyes look like behind his glasses? What music does he listen to? Does he have any siblings? Can he dance? What movies does he like? What's his favorite food? Does he like roma-

"Hey, Karkat- wanna come over to my house after school?"

Dave's request startled Karkat out of his thoughts, leaving a dumbfounded expression on his face as he replied "yes?"

Dave smiled- a real, genuine smile, and Karkat had to put his hands under the table to hide their shaking.

Next to them, a bizarre Necomimi- wearing girl giggled and posted something on Tumblr- a picture with two figures, one pale with aviators and the other with dark brown hair and eyes with dark circles.

Ah, yes- the notorious shipper herself. It's probably something from a fandom.

After class ended, Dave walked up to Karkat.

"Hey, Karkitten, shall we get going?"

Scowling, Karkat tried to hide his lightly flushing cheeks and desire to smile.

As the two walked to Dave's apartment complex, Dave warned Karkat about his older brother, Dirk, who was sure to cause a little bit of chaos with his "butt puppets" and his swords, but Karkat wasn't really listening, he was paying more attention to the smooth quality of Dave's voice.

When they arrived at the apartment after climbing several flights of stairs, Dave's Bro was apparently out.

Karkat leafed through Dave's movie collection, eventually choosing Hitch.

Dave owned them all for ironic purposes, of course.

Settling down on the couch, they popped in the movie and ate popcorn that Dave had made previously, Dave's arm often bumping Karkat's until Karkat fell asleep and Dave carried him to his room to sleep.

The next morning, Karkat woke up in arms smelling of cinnamon and musk.

His heart was pounding.


	4. The Second Chemical

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jesus christ this is taking forever i wish transferring trash over to another platform was easier

When Karkat woke up that morning in Dave's warm arms, his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest.

He realized Dave was still sleeping, so he snuggled closer and felt the corners of his mouth turn up, his head settling on Dave's chest, listening to the steady breaths the boy took.

A soft chuckle rumbled through the room.

Karkat looked up to see Dave grinning, his shades on, presumably looking at Karkat as he flushed and tossed Dave's arms off of him.

He stood up, trying to escape.

"But I'm cold," Dave said, pulling Karkat back onto the bed, causing him to land on Dave, their faces breathtakingly close.

Karkat's eyes widened and his hands trembled.

Dave looked startled too, but before Karkat knew what was happening, he started leaning up to Karkat, their noses brushi-

And oh, his lips, were on Karkat's.

Karkat's brain short-circuited. He froze.

Nervously, the lips retracted as Dave sat back, panic etched in the set of his mouth. "I'm sorry, I ju-just thought that you... You know, liked me," he said, choking nervously when he said the last words.

Karkat felt his eyes widen. "Is this some kind of joke to you? Did you kiss me simply because I am infatuated with you?"

He jumped up from the bed, gathered his belongings, and was out of the apartment before Dave could even hope to stop him.

As Karkat sprinted home, his thoughts were a whirlwind as his heart raced and his head blurred.

When he got into his room and slammed the door shut, he felt like destroying something. Instead of performing the act, he sat in a chair, playing white noise from his phone.

When he calmed down, he did a little ore research- he may have had a high temper ever since he was a child, but he was enraged right now more so than ever before.

After one simple search, Karkat accepted that he really was falling in love with Dave Strider.

After all, the Serotonin and Norepinephrine certainly were symptoms of the feeling, and he was showing serious signs of his brain releasing them.

Dammit.

He would have to apologize to Dave later, after calming down, he realized how Dave had been acting and how his voice sounded strained earlier.

That day, it was not a second chemical, but a second and a third chemical that Karkat learned of.


	5. I'm Sorry

Karkat arrived at school when the weekend was over, adrenaline buzzing in his veins. He meandered through the school until he found Dave, sitting in a corner with his barely visible eyebrows indicating a frown.

"Hey," Karkat began.

Dave sighed and said, "Hey Karkat... Look man, I didn't mean to jump on you like that, and I'm sorry for assuming you liked me and all. I totally understand if you don't want to be friends anymore." His mouth twitches downwards, showing he's close to crying.

Karkat felt his eyes soften at that, and let his arms fall around the boy in front of him. "I'm sorry for behaving like that towards you, you kissing me really just shocked me, and I don't fuckin' know why I was so pissed at you for doing that out of the blue. I kinda.. Really liked it." His voice shook.

Then, Karkat felt Dave return his hug, the boy nuzzling into his shoulder.

They sat there for a while- calm, happy, and relieved.

Then, Dave pressed his soft lips into Karkat's again, and this time Karkat did not freeze.

Hot breath was shared as Dave gripped Karkat's face gently, the couple smiling through the kiss.

It was the perfect chick flick moment.

Or, at least, it would have been, if not for the strikingly blue eyes that watched from the distance. Chick flick moments don't usually have spies in them.


	6. Sunshine Smiles

As Karkat's relationship with Dave developed, he began to see so many parts of Dave's he hadn't seen before.

Karkat saw how Dave's face lit up when Karkat came into view, he saw how Dave's eyebrows would twitch if he was curious, how his lips would momentarily point downwards when he felt sorrow. Karkat's favorite thing about Dave though, had to have been Dave's smile. Not the smirk he showed so often, but a full blown, wide, wonderful smile. The scrunching of his nose and the rising cheeks.

But Karkat also knew the thing he hated most about Dave- Dave's crying face. He had only seen it once or twice, but the first time he saw it, he knew he hated it. It wasn't that Dave was an ugly crier- just that whenever the boy cried, it was always for an important reason, and when his face scrunched up, the tears and expression and silence of Dave's crying always showed how much pain he was in when he did so.

Dave's crying made Karkat feel broken and angry, and he often got wound up about seeing his boyfriend crying, and even once tried to hit someone who made Dave cry, but Dave always stopped him and told him it was okay.

Karkat was just thankful that Dave hadn't seen him cry yet. When Karkat cried, he was loud and annoying and it went on for hours. However, the way Dave held him made him think sometimes that maybe Dave wouldn't mind Karkat crying.

That thought always made Karkat scoot just a little bit closer to Dave as they were cuddling.

It made him smile a little bit wider, the thought that Dave genuinely cared for him.

But when Dave smiled after a bout of tears, it was the brightest thing imaginable to Karkat. The early morning sun highlighting his face, his cheeks squished, his mouth spread impossibly wide. It was the very same smile Dave wore when Karkat peppered his face with kisses during a nap, when he though Dave was sleeping but wasn't.

As these thoughts swarmed through Karkat's head, he rested his head on Dave's shoulder, and Dave, in turn, snaked an arm around Karkat, his warm breath ruffling Karkat's hair.

Still, though, Karkat wondered what his boyfriend looked like without his aviators.


	7. Through the Rain

Karkat stood at the entrance of the apartment he shared with Gamzee.

The door was ajar as Karkat walked in to the unlit apartment.

Instantly, the iron tang of blood hit his tongue as he breathed it in.

Hurriedly, he rushed into Gamzee's room, only to find a splattering of red as well as the two bodies lying in it. One had long, dark, untamed hair that stuck out in all directions, with skull-like makeup painted across his peaceful face. The other, wrapped in his arms, was tanned and muscular, with an undercut and freckles. The first was holding a knife, both of them adorned with stab wounds.

Karkat made a strangled, choked sound as he realized that his best friend had killed Tavros, and then himself.

He staggered out of the door after calling 911, the ambulance rushing to the scene. Karkat quickly found himself draped in a soft blue blanket as he breathed shallowly, his palms suddenly clammy.

Oh, the shock is setting in.

Two long masses draped in white were dragged away from the building on stretchers, and Karkat felt everything fade into black.

When he woke up, he was lying on a stiff bed in a room that smelled of cleaning agents, with a tall figure hovering above him.

No, standing.

Karkat looked at Dave for a moment until the events of the previous day came back to him. He felt his face shatter, his eyebrows bent pitifully, the corners of his mouth drawn outward, his eyes welling with hot tears as he began to shake violently, with barely repressed sobs that turned into pained wailing as Dave took Karkat into his arms, and Karkat clutched the material on his matesprit's back.

Dave tightened his arms around Karkat, and let the smaller boy cry.

Karkat cried on-and-off for what might have been four hours, and by the time he was done, his head was pounding and his eyes were raw and red.

Dave gently rubbed Karkat's hand. "We're planning memorial services for them. Would you care to help?"

Karkat, offering a weak smile, could only nod his head as tears somehow found his eyes again.

A week later, Gamzee's memorial service took place. It was lively and upbeat, jokes being made about the amount of drugs he ingested, and the most humorous stories of his worst highs.

Tears were shed, but Karkat did his best to tell the stories of Gamzee gently comforting him, along with the music the boy listened to, his favorite song being mIrAcLeS.

Dave sat in the back row, his neck bent as he looked at the ground, obviously grieving over the loss, despite rarely talking to Gamzee.

After the service ended, neither of them said a word as they drove home and crawled into bed, Karkat clutching Dave as if he were a lifeline.

Dave, in turn, pressed his face into Karkat's white hair, breathing in the lavender-like smell of the smaller boy.


	8. Screw Chemicals

Karkat was looking back on the time when he had fervently researched the chemicals that his brain released whenever he was around Strider.

Ah, those were the days.

But as of late, he began to realize he didn't need to blame his feelings for his boyfriend on his brain, or anyone or anything else. He was simply in love with Dave Strider.

Woah, what?

The two had been together for almost six months. Karkat was still recovering from Gamzee's murder-suicide, but they hadn't really talked about love yet. So Karkat stood up from the chair in which he was sitting and walked over to Dave's apartment, making sure to send him a heads-up text as he went.

Karkat knocked on the door, and in seconds, it was opened by a happy-looking Dave. Karkat felt his face flush at the notion that Dave's face lit up when he was around.

"Come in," the taller boy said, confidently walking towards the couch, sitting down, and patting the spot next to him.

Karkat closed the door behind himself, and plopped down next to Dave.

"So, Dave, I'm actually here to... talk." He said with a nervous swallow.

Dave's face fell into his usual poker face.

"What did you want to talk about?" He replied, voice a bit strained.

Karkat eased Dave's worry by pecking his cheek. "Don't worry, I'm not breaking up with you. I, er, wanted to tell you that... I.."

"Well, I think I'm in love with you."

Dave's lips parted, "Ka-Karkat." He rasped. "Before you say any more, I need to show you something..."

Karkat felt the blood drain from his face. This was going to be big.

But Dave didn't get up and show him something horrifying. He simply reached up and took his glasses off, staring Karkat right in the eye.

Karkat swallowed thickly as he found himself looking into an open face conveying all of the emotions in that beautiful head of Dave's. He looked... scared. Scared as Karkat stared into the endlessly brilliant ruby orbs that shone back at him.

Dave's face contorted in pain in the perceived rejection, but Karkat gently cupped Dave's face, stroking the cheeks with his thumbs.

Dave's eyes blew wide again as Karkat surged forward and kissed Dave, hard and emotionally, showing the feeling behind the kiss. Dave quickly returned the kiss, a relieved sigh slipping out of his lungs, and they both smiled into the kiss before Dave broke it to pepper Karkat's face with little kisses.

"So they don't freak you out?"

"Of course not. Dave, they're magnificent."

That seemed to be all Dave needed as he swept Karkat into a hug.

"Hey, Karkat?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

Karkat stroked Dave's hair, reveling in the electric hot coco feelings he got in his stomach whenever Dave was with him.

"I know that, fuckass."


	9. What's That One Line from "Save Rock and Roll," Again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jesus chRIST

"...I thought I loved you..."

"It was just how you looked in the light. A teenage vow in a parking lot, 'till tonight do us part!' I sing the blues and swallow them too."

"My words are my fai-" 

Dave yanked Karkat's earbuds out of his ears.

"What was that for?" He snapped.

"I was talking about what I wanted to do for my birthday, but you weren't listening! Look, I know you had a bad day, but this is really important to me. It's the first birthday I'll have spent with you, and I want it to be perfect."

Karkat's expression softened. "I'm sorry, Dave, what were you saying?"

"Well, I was thinking that we could go and get dinner somewhere... and I had some other things in mind too, like- are you... ready for a further relationship? I thought we had to talk about it beforehand." He said, tentatively.

Karkat felt his face heat up. "I don't know, Dave, I haven't given much thought to it. I might need some time to consider..."

Dave nodded, saying, "Yeah, I understand. Answer how you wish."

In truth, Karkat had thought about it. He knew he wasn't ready for it, so he wanted to find a way to turn Dave down without being rude. He would, undoubtedly, turn his boyfriend down- but how does one go about that without hurting another person's feelings?

His head was buzzing that night as he opened up Pesterchum.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

CG: DAVE

TG: sup

CG: SO ABOUT YOUR OFFER

TG: oh that

TG: yeah its alright i mean you dont have to get down n dirty with me if you dont want to

CG: OKAY FIRST

CG: WHO THE TAINTCHAFING FUCK USES THAT TERM?

CG: SECOND

CG: WHILE I AM REFUSING, IT ISNT NECESSARILY BECAUSE I DONT WANT TO, BUT BECAUSE IM NOT READY FOR IT YET

CG: I MEAN IM NOT EXACTLY EXPERIENCED WITH RELATIONSHIPS

TG: oh okay

TG: its cool

TG: so ill pick you up at seven on friday?

CG: YEAH

CG: BYE DAVE

CG: <3

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

TG: <3

turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

In two different locations, two people simultaneously gave sighs of relief. One because of the reason he had assumed Karkat had, and the other because he was able to tell his boyfriend "no" without hurting him.

Karkat could barely wait for Friday.

/break\

Wednesday. Still fucking Wednesday.

Karkat furrowed his brows as he turned up the music he was listening to. Today, it was The Goo Goo Dolls.

The energetic intro softened his glare, as did the opening lines.

"Ecstasy is all you need, livin' in the big machine now!"

"Oh, you're so vain."

"Now your world is way too fast, nothing's real and nothin' lasts,"

"And I'm aware I'm in love but you don't care."

He walked into the men's bathroom, and strange pants echoed in a stall.

"Turn your anger into lust,"

"I'm still here, but you don't trust at all, and I'll be waitin'." 

A moan echoed in the room, and Karkat suddenly knew what those pants were.

"Love and sex and loneliness, take what's yours and leave the rest!"

He struggled to get out of the room, face red, until he heard a noise.

"So I'll survive, god, it's good to be alive!"

"John!"

The voice was painfully familiar.

Bitter feelings swept up in him and bile rose in his throat, his face making a violent, twisted expression as he tore out of the room, no longer caring about the noise he made, and found himself in an abandoned classroom with the volume of his music turned all the way up.

"I'M TORN IN PIECES-"

He was breathing quickly, close to hyperventilating, his hands shaking.

"MY HEART IS REELIN'."

He tore the earbuds out and threw them away from him.

That voice had been Dave.

That voice had been Dave.

That voice had been Dave.

 

 

 

 

"You are what you love, not who loves you..."

 

As if it's so easy to believe a line like that.


	10. Push

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aight im almost caught up

It was the morning after Karkat had stumbled upon Dave and John in the bathroom. Dark circles, darker than normal, decorated his eyes, and his messy, wild hair only accentuated them.

Of course, he hadn't slept. How could he? Dave had sex with John not days after Karkat had denied his request, not weeks after they started saying "I love you."

John- hadn't Dave told him they were dating? He had definitely seen them at one point, and he wasn't the type to hate others. He was kind and gentle and wouldn't break up a relationship...

Wasn't he?

Karkat sighed, rubbing his drooping eyes as he trudged to school. He hadn't checked his messages, hadn't waited for Dave to come by to walk with him to school. Did Dave even know Karkat knew he was cheating on him?

"You never really wanted it- you'll settle for a bit of it. We started with a big bang, and now it's coming back again..."

Last night had been filled with a constricting throat, nails digging into palms as he silently screamed, crying without noise for the first time in his life. He was thankful for that, at least, and the fact that he hadn't cried long enough for it to still show on his face.

"It'll wear you down and wear you down . You chase it, breathing in and out and in and out- they'll push you up against the wall, against the wall- you didn't think you'd feel it all but you were wrong about it..."

It was nice while it lasted, Karkat supposed. But as he thought more, he began to realize that they'd been fighting frequently lately, and Dave's attention constantly drifted when they weren't. Would Dave really just get bored with someone like that? What, was the last straw Karkat declining Dave, no matter how politely he did it?

He grit his teeth, brow furrowing a little more than usual as said person ran around a corner, panting.

"Yo, Karkles, you could have waited for me! I'm sorry for being late."

Bile rose in Karkat's throat as Dave caught up to him, fingers entwining with Karkat's.

He did this with John, he did this with John, he did this with John-

Karkat yanked his hand out of Dave's.

"Yo, Strider, you could have waited for me!" He yelled, voice dripping with blame and scorn. He regretted bringing up the topic almost immediately, but there was no turning back.

"Huh?"

"I walked in on you and John in the bathroom."

Dave's mouth became an "o," almost comically, his eyebrows elevating into his hair.

"Well, since you seem at such a fucking loss for words, let me spell it out for you. I heard you moaning John's name, Dave, in a fucking bathroom, not even three days after I told you I wouldn't put out. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? Especially since this hasn't been a short-term relationship, either. It's lasted for over half a year, and you just go and cheat on me, not even long after we initially exchanged 'I love you?'"

Dave opened his mouth as if to say something.

"No, Dave, don't even start. I know what happened. There aren't excuses. We're over."

Karkat whipped around, jaw set, hands clenching into fists yet again.

Dave didn't show up in class that day, to Karkat's relief. He wasn't sure if he could handle seeing Dave's face again without breaking it.


	11. Leggys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg im done (for now)

It was some Monday some week. Frankly, Karkat had stopped keeping track of the days. He knew he missed Dave's birthday, and maybe some other events that might have been important in some other life.

Meh.

But it was Monday, and Karkat was trudging reluctantly to school with the knowledge that he'd have to deal with his ex-friend and ex-boyfriend all in one.

As he arrived at school, the building clean, the weather pleasant, he began walking, but stopped when he passed by a peculiar girl who was drawing.

Her art was colorful and sketchy, with sharp noses and joyful smiles, but the one thing that caught Karkat's eyes were what she was drawing. She was drawing a body, with lines directing the precision, and below an oval, a pair of thick thighs were drawn coming from a slim waist.

The girl seemed to notice Karkat staring at her art, and turned around with a cheerful, sweet look on her face.

"It's a pear-shaped body. Aren't they lovely? I just love how the hips curve into thighs..."

Karkat managed an upward quirk of his lips.

"You are a pretty good artist."

"Thanks! My name is Calliope."

"Karkat."

"Karkat, you look down. Might I ask what's wrong?"

"Well..." he rasped. "I guess I'm upset because I was dating this guy and we were together for a while, we even exchanged the 'l' word, and then he proposed sex and I turned him down, only to find him screwing another guy a few days later."

Callie's face dropped. "Oh, Karkat..."

He rubbed his eyes, tinged with red from sleeplessness. "It's okay... I guess I should ask him why, though, it's not like we were any less close when it happened."

Callie nodded her head, electing to give Karkat a pat on the shoulder as encouragement. "Good luck."

Karkat smiled.

But before going, he wanted to see some of her other drawings and talk a little bit more with his new friend.

"My heart's burning bad,   
and it's turning black,   
but I'm learning how to be stronger.   
And, sincerely, I love you dearly,  
oh, but I'm clearly destined to wonder..."

He would confront Dave tomorrow, he just had to get through today.


End file.
